iPhone sinking in the land of the rising sun

We have written before about the iPhoneâ€™s sales woes in Japan, and now we receiveÂ news via Crunchgear than Apple and his carrier Softbank Mobile has resorted to desperate measures to increase languishing sales.

Targeted to sell 1 million in 2008, the device is rumoured to have sold only 500 000, or an even lower 100 000.Â In response to waning sales Apple has drastically reduced the price of the iPhone from the equivalent of $235 to free on a two year contract, while keeping the cost of the maximum plan at $45, making Japan one of the cheapest places in the world to get an iPhone.

Whether this will be enough to stimulate sales of the iPhone, who’s dated hardware lacks high resolution screens common in the Japanese market, and which does not support hand writing recognition or stylus use remains to be seen. The iPhone remains stolidly a US product, not supporting advanced features common in the Asian market such as 1-Seg TV or mobile payment.

The Softbank â€œiPhone for everyoneâ€ promotion will expire at the end of May, likely just before the release of a hopefully more competitive device in June 2009.